I got this game last Tuesday, and every word of this review is true. It's just plain FUN, and the "linear" structure of levels is just fine for my tranforming, item exploring, baddy shooting needs. One of the MUST GETS of the year!

Got the game last Thursday (one day before my area release, strangely, but hey, works for me), and I had a lot of fun with it. Nevermind the fact that I grew up with the 80s cartoon - this is simply a good game.If there's one big point of criticism I'd have to lever, it'd be the upgrade system. It necessitates traipsing around emptied battlefields to collect hidden or dropped energon shards to pay for upgrades at the Teletraan stores, and it just egregiously breaks both flow and immersion for me.

EDIT: Oh and Mike, you should have gone with "Me Grimlock kick butt!" in the credits. xD

This is one of the best shooters of the year in general, my personal favorite over-all though so far. It's so good the demo even managed to let me convince some non-Transformers fan friends of mine who were extremely skeptical to get it because the game was so much fun. I only wish you had more time to play as Bruticus and that there were more of my favorite characters crammed into the campaign. Definite recommendation to all Transformers and Third-Person Shooter fans!

At least check it out for the multiplayer if you aren't into Transformers, it's awesome! Beats even Halo in my opinion. Soaring in as a jet, transforming, healing three team mates while rapidly dashing around to make sure you yourself stay alive, shooting a couple enemies with an orbital pistol, killing one with a burst rifle then rapidly transforming and flying away while getting peppered by enemy gun fire in a desperate attempt to find a health cube before engaging another jet in a dog fight... yeah you don't get that kind of action anywhere else!

This game is awesome! Got it on Friday and i haven't played another game since! Every character you play as is given awesome character development, the voice acting is just phenomenal, story telling is possibly the best i have seen, and the sheer sense of scale is just of the chart! With Metroplex, Vortex's HUGE mission area (the biggest in the Unreal engine i may add) and Bruticus's mission the game just feels huge, even though it's a linear game, it gives you a chance to breath, and explore. G1 fans will love the references as well, A must get for any Transformer fan, and i would urge any non Fans to at least try!

So glad I pre-ordered this. Possibly my favourite shooter of the year so far. And I'm not even a Transformers fan! I actually went out and got my hands on the G1 cartoon, I was so sold on Transformers by this game. I kind of wish I was a kid again; my inner child loves the game much more than I do.

It is amazing though. Definitely a must-buy for shooter fans, and Transformers fans especially.

the first game was fun, but this game looks way better. the proper use of the Transformers license really makes it stand out, though Gears of War's co-op (esp locally) is what I wish both war and fall of cybertron had :[

Is it just me though, or is the visual design for many of the transformers and environments extremely cluttered and ugly? I mean it seems to take the worst aspects of visual design from both the Bayformers and the old Transformers and mash them together...

EDIT: Is the acid I took way back in high school affecting my memories of preschool?

Over the years TF canon has undergone some changes - this is one of them. Grimlock and his team were known as the Lightning Strike Coalition back on Cybertron; powerful fighters, but loose cannons. Shockwave abducted them during an expedition into the Sea of Rust and, having previously remotely scanned pre-historic Earth in an attempt to locate new sources of Energon, surgically twisted their forms into dinosaurs after realizing said animals' sheer destructive potential. While most of the team retained their former traits of character, Grimlock had ca. 98% of his mental circuity rewired to boost combat power, hence the simple attitude and language. Oh, and the team now only numbers four Dinobots; Sludge was never remodelled, he was killed by Insecticons during an escape attempt.

EDIT: Is the acid I took way back in high school affecting my memories of preschool?

Over the years TF canon has undergone some changes - this is one of them. Grimlock and his team were known as the Lightning Strike Coalition back on Cybertron; powerful fighters, but loose cannons. Shockwave abducted them during an expedition into the Sea of Rust and, having previously remotely scanned pre-historic Earth in an attempt to locate new sources of Energon, surgically twisted their forms into dinosaurs after realizing said animals' sheer destructive potential. While most of the team retained their former traits of character, Grimlock had ca. 98% of his mental circuity rewired to boost combat power, hence the simple attitude and language. Oh, and the team now only numbers four Dinobots; Sludge was never remodelled, he was killed by Insecticons during an escape attempt.

It is weird Sludge was Killed, he was given a dino form and new robot form in some concept art, it's strange they made that and didn't use it =\

leviadragon99:Is it just me though, or is the visual design for many of the transformers and environments extremely cluttered and ugly? I mean it seems to take the worst aspects of visual design from both the Bayformers and the old Transformers and mash them together...

All the designs are G1 inspired, just modernized. Some features are taken from the Prime Series, and some from other of shows such as Armada, Energon and Cybertron, for example, Cliffjumpers head is inspired by his Prime character, Scattershot is taken from Cybertron, and Demolisher is taken from Armada. The only thing that relates to the films is Bee losing his voice, however that also relates to the Prime series :P

Over the years TF canon has undergone some changes - this is one of them. Grimlock and his team were known as the Lightning Strike Coalition back on Cybertron; powerful fighters, but loose cannons.

Prior to this game, the elite Autobot commandos that comprised of Grimlock and Co. were called the Dynobots.

I don't know what their story was for the original marvel comics, where I know they existed on Cybertron, but I have no idea how they came to have dinosaur modes.

First time I hear about the 'Dynobots' name. You got a source?The first time I saw Grimlock (but no other bots from his current team) was as a rebellious Autobot sub-commander, and later leader of the Lightning Strike Coalition in Dreamwave's "War Within" comics; his alternate mode was a tank.

Over the years TF canon has undergone some changes - this is one of them. Grimlock and his team were known as the Lightning Strike Coalition back on Cybertron; powerful fighters, but loose cannons.

Prior to this game, the elite Autobot commandos that comprised of Grimlock and Co. were called the Dynobots.

I don't know what their story was for the original marvel comics, where I know they existed on Cybertron, but I have no idea how they came to have dinosaur modes.

First time I hear about the 'Dynobots' name. You got a source?The first time I saw Grimlock (but no other bots from his current team) was as a rebellious Autobot sub-commander, and later leader of the Lightning Strike Coalition in Dreamwave's "War Within" comics; his alternate mode was a tank.

The Dreamwave canon is kinda seperate from the official story-line. Even though Hasbro took plenty of pointers from Dreamwave.

So yeah, in another version they are also called Dynobots. Same alternative Cybertron modes as the Lighting Strike Coalition though.

I still have no idea what Maynard James Keenan has to do with transformers (the music in the 'sad' trailer) but its good to hear the game turned out great. It's a shame though that many will still just presume that this is a cash-in game because its a licensed title. Over the years the big publishers have eroded away our trust in almost any licensed game.

I also hopes the sells REALLY well, Activision has a habit of killing studios that don't make multi-million selling games. Bizzare Creations and Radical Entertainment have both felt the axe after making games that were by no means terrible. I hope High Moon will not be added to that list.

It's from the current comic makers, IDW. Though they were referred to as the 'Dynobots' in War Within as well.

They appeared chronologically later in The Transformers: Spotlight issue on Shockwave, having, as in other continuities, defected to the Autobots. In this stand-alone tale, the Dinobots (here, as in the War Within, referring to themselves as "Dynobots") sought revenge on Shockwave for a past incident involving his destruction of an Energon cache that they had stolen-and nearly them with it. Being denied a chance for revenge by Optimus Prime, the Dynobots went rogue and tracked Shockwave to prehistoric Earth, where he was ensuring that seams of rich Energon that he had seeded took root. Unable to survive in the Energon levels on the planet (reminiscent of the problem facing the Maximals and Predacons in Beast Wars), they adopted techno-organic dinosaur modes and teleported down to Earth to engage Shockwave. Despite their determination and ferocity, their own impulsive nature would prove their undoing; the concept that the Dynobots could have followed him for simple revenge. Shockwave shut down his higher logic functions, allowing him to single-handedly devastate the Dynobots. He would not enjoy his victory for long-Grimlock had set the weapons on their ship to fire on their location, exploding a volcano and burying all combatants in lava.

The above is also my personal favorite origin story for how the Dinobots got their Dinomodes.

The Human Torch:The Dreamwave canon is kinda seperate from the official story-line. Even though Hasbro took plenty of pointers from Dreamwave.

They certainly did have some good takes on the franchise though... Sadface to them going bankrupted.

Also... for a "It's it's own continuity" thing... War on Cybertron certainly felt like War Within, the game.

It's from the current comic makers, IDW. Though they were referred to as the 'Dynobots' in War Within as well.

They appeared chronologically later in The Transformers: Spotlight issue on Shockwave, having, as in other continuities, defected to the Autobots. In this stand-alone tale, the Dinobots (here, as in the War Within, referring to themselves as "Dynobots") sought revenge on Shockwave for a past incident involving his destruction of an Energon cache that they had stolen-and nearly them with it. Being denied a chance for revenge by Optimus Prime, the Dynobots went rogue and tracked Shockwave to prehistoric Earth, where he was ensuring that seams of rich Energon that he had seeded took root. Unable to survive in the Energon levels on the planet (reminiscent of the problem facing the Maximals and Predacons in Beast Wars), they adopted techno-organic dinosaur modes and teleported down to Earth to engage Shockwave. Despite their determination and ferocity, their own impulsive nature would prove their undoing; the concept that the Dynobots could have followed him for simple revenge. Shockwave shut down his higher logic functions, allowing him to single-handedly devastate the Dynobots. He would not enjoy his victory for long-Grimlock had set the weapons on their ship to fire on their location, exploding a volcano and burying all combatants in lava.

The above is also my personal favorite origin story for how the Dinobots got their Dinomodes.

The Human Torch:The Dreamwave canon is kinda seperate from the official story-line. Even though Hasbro took plenty of pointers from Dreamwave.

They certainly did have some good takes on the franchise though... Sadface to them going bankrupted.

Also... for a "It's it's own continuity" thing... War on Cybertron certainly felt like War Within, the game.

Just read up on it too. Sounds like a barrel of laughs. ^^

Yeah, at the time I was devastated about DW going under... still sore over never getting to see War Within Vol. 3 finished. War for Cybertron's plentiful resemblances to War Within are among the many reasons why I love that game.

It's from the current comic makers, IDW. Though they were referred to as the 'Dynobots' in War Within as well.

They appeared chronologically later in The Transformers: Spotlight issue on Shockwave, having, as in other continuities, defected to the Autobots. In this stand-alone tale, the Dinobots (here, as in the War Within, referring to themselves as "Dynobots") sought revenge on Shockwave for a past incident involving his destruction of an Energon cache that they had stolen-and nearly them with it. Being denied a chance for revenge by Optimus Prime, the Dynobots went rogue and tracked Shockwave to prehistoric Earth, where he was ensuring that seams of rich Energon that he had seeded took root. Unable to survive in the Energon levels on the planet (reminiscent of the problem facing the Maximals and Predacons in Beast Wars), they adopted techno-organic dinosaur modes and teleported down to Earth to engage Shockwave. Despite their determination and ferocity, their own impulsive nature would prove their undoing; the concept that the Dynobots could have followed him for simple revenge. Shockwave shut down his higher logic functions, allowing him to single-handedly devastate the Dynobots. He would not enjoy his victory for long-Grimlock had set the weapons on their ship to fire on their location, exploding a volcano and burying all combatants in lava.

The above is also my personal favorite origin story for how the Dinobots got their Dinomodes.

The Human Torch:The Dreamwave canon is kinda seperate from the official story-line. Even though Hasbro took plenty of pointers from Dreamwave.

They certainly did have some good takes on the franchise though... Sadface to them going bankrupted.

Also... for a "It's it's own continuity" thing... War on Cybertron certainly felt like War Within, the game.

I have all the Dreamwave and IDW Transformer books, as they are so nicely written. It's such a big shame that both companies bit the dust, even though Dreamwave suffered from corrupt management, last I heard was that most of the artists and writers involved with Dreamwave never got paid.

I always wondered how the story would move on, as millions of years later, humans dig out Shockwave and the Dynobots. This would bring the story back to the original G1 story, where Shockwave was already on earth before Megatron and would eventually even kill Megatron in a coupe. In almost every iteration of the story, Shockwave was a traitor, and in Fall of Cybertron he is fiercely loyal to Megatron, I am still in shock over that. :P

Yeah, at the time I was devastated about DW going under... still sore over never getting to see War Within Vol. 3 finished. War for Cybertron's plentiful resemblances to War Within are among the many reasons why I love that game.

I'd like to recommend the IDW comics to you... but they are getting rather Jump the Sharkie... and I'm not sure how I feel about where they are taking the story.

I always wondered how the story would move on, as millions of years later, humans dig out Shockwave and the Dynobots. This would bring the story back to the original G1 story, where Shockwave was already on earth before Megatron and would eventually even kill Megatron in a coupe. In almost every iteration of the story, Shockwave was a traitor, and in Fall of Cybertron he is fiercely loyal to Megatron, I am still in shock over that. :P

The humans captured ravage and lazerbeak, and tried to turn them into essentually mindless command obeying slaves. Then Soundwave, whom was stuck in alt mode, used his soundwavy ability to distrupt the signals and free them. They tried to do the same thing to the Dinobots... whom they already KNEW something might go wrong with... and Grimlock broke free of the controls... then stomped Skorpinok's face... if I remember correctly. Then Ultra Magnus arrested him for abandoning his post 4 million years prior. But Grimlock accepted all the blame, so his squad could remain free. Then no word on Grimlock till this month actually... 3 in comic years later.

P.S. IDW didn't go under and is still making Transformers comics monthly.

The humans captured ravage and lazerbeak, and tried to turn them into essentually mindless command obeying slaves. Then Soundwave, whom was stuck in alt mode, used his soundwavy ability to distrupt the signals and free them. They tried to do the same thing to the Dinobots... whom they already KNEW something might go wrong with... and Grimlock broke free of the controls... then stomped Skorpinok's face... if I remember correctly. Then Ultra Magnus arrested him for abandoning his post 4 million years prior. But Grimlock accepted all the blame, so his squad could remain free. Then no word on Grimlock till this month actually... 3 in comic years later.

P.S. IDW didn't go under and is still making Transformers comics monthly.

I remember Grimlock waking up and then going on a rampage and duking it out with Scorponock.And didn't Soundwave get bought by a human, because he thought it was rad to have a retro cassette-deck.

Hmm, I really thought that IDW went downhill as well. For a time they were not releasing ANY Transformers comics, with the exception of the Micheal Bay Transformers movie inspired comics. Which I avoided, obviously. I gave up on IDW during that.

Just saw they've got hardcover collections of the IDW comics, currently numbering 7 volumes. So much want... but no money. *sigh*

Well... Everything up to "All Hail Megatron" was amazing... thne AHM happened... and it was like "da fuk? Is this an AU?"

Then it was canon... and the follow up took place after it... and I have no idea what the hell happened... so many holes in the story.

It started to get better a bit... except for the first like... 5 issues of the ongoing series, the art went for the bad... it was overly detailed and ugly... just like a Bayformer... and then Optimus had a mouth for a panel...

People also seem to forget that Even the cartoons were just another version of the characters and not even the first. In the Marvel comics which started out first, then ran alongside the show, and finally when the original show ended still kept running. The Dinobots were an Autobot strike team from Cybertron that stole a Decepticon ship and followed Prime and the Ark to Earth.

I actually read All Hail Megatron... I kinda liked it.Also, I got one of the covers (Megatron standing triumphant with Prime's head on a pike) as a A4-sized poster signed by the artist; a friend of mine got it at a convention and gave it to me last year as a birthday present. ^^

If I read the faq correctly there's minimal Soundwave gameplay and no Shockwave at all. Unfortunate. Still, looking forward to playing this, especially the multiplayer with its deeper customization options and whatnot.